Paris 2024: Swimming training canceled over Seine pollution

A swimming training session for the 2024 Paris Olympics' triathlon was canceled on Sunday, with organizers saying recent heavy rain has increased pollution levels in the Seine.

French authorities have invested €1.4 billion ($1.52 billion) in new wastewater infrastructure to cut sewage levels and make the river, where swimming has been banned for over a century, swimmable again.

Organizers were "confident" that sunshine and higher temperatures forecast for the coming 48 hours would improve pollution levels before the triathlon begins with the men's race on Tuesday.

Why was the training canceled?

On days when triathlon training or competitions are scheduled, World Triathlon officials meet with Paris authorities at 4 a.m. They analyze water tests and decide whether the river is clean enough for the athletes to swim.

Tests carried out in the Seine on Saturday "revealed water quality levels that in the view of the international federation, World Triathlon, did not provide sufficient guarantees to allow the event to be held," organizers of Paris 2024 said in a statement. 

They attributed that to the relentless rainfall since the opening on Friday. They stressed that both Paris 2024 and World Triathlon "reaffirm that the health of the athletes is a priority."

"We have had some rainfall but everything that has been put in place has worked," Pierre Rabadan, the city's deputy mayor for sports, told a press conference on Sunday.

"It prevents overflows from occurring so I think we will reach a satisfying quality of the water very soon, but it will depend on the weather forecast as well," he added. 

France has been adamant to prove the iconic river is safe for swimming once again, amid concerns ahead of the Olympics. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo was among those who went for a dip in the river before the start of the Olympics to prove it was clean and safe.

rmt/dj (dpa, Reuters)